


Finding A Dime

by MadameUnskrewed



Category: RWBY
Genre: Comedy, F/F, Not Beta Read, References to Depression, Romance, Self-Doubt, Slow Burn, a bit of angst later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28551480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameUnskrewed/pseuds/MadameUnskrewed
Summary: Ironwood suspects a spy up in Atlas and sends Penny down to Mantle to keep her out of harms way. No one should see the rebuild version of the Penny Project and he choose Winter as the best available option to keep an eye on Penny.Coming from an entire differently background the both woman learn from each other what it truly means to live.A light hearted fic with some serious topics later on.Also just as a side note, this fic is not beta read.Now with cover art!
Relationships: Penny Polendina/Winter Schnee
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	1. Prologue

**Finding A Dime**

**Prologue**

* * *

«General Ironwood, sir?», Specialist Winter Schnee stood in the generals office and awaited her orders. She was a bit curious thou for what she was ordered in his office.

Is something wrong? Did he find my special collection of …

Before she could continue her train of thoughts she was interrupted by the general. He slowly turned around looking her in the eyes. His whole mannerism was stern and a tad more serious than normal.

“Winter, I have an important mission for you, it is of the most highest importance that you don’t fail”, his fist slammed on the table and the little plant pot on the side of his table fell on the ground.

Shattered just like his good mood prior this morning.

Winter rose an eyebrow, what is going on here, this was quite a weird turn of events. And since when did the General even have a plant in his office?

He seemed to just realize what happened, he snapped out of his moment of emotional weakness and let his hand glide through his hair.

“So Winter, I know you will face new challenges in this mission, things you weren’t trained for, factors that will come in random, things you can’t control, but I await your best performance in this mission.”

Winter stood upright and looked at him with anticipation.

“Winter your mission.”

He got one step closer.

“Is to.”

He made another step in her direction, Winter was slowly getting more nervous.

“keep an eye on..”

He stood in front of her his arms on her shoulders looking her right in the eye.

The grip on her shoulders got stronger but she didn’t let it show.

“Penny.”

Whut? Did she hear right. She knew Penny, they spent quite a bit of time together under the general, she actually wondered why she wasn’t here.

Confusion was all over her face. She just had to keep an eye on Penny.

That was truly a strange request.

“Sir?” Those were the only words she uttered before the general let her out of his grasp.

“There are signs of Salems spies around here in Atlas, they can’t see that we rebuild Penny. And that for we have decided to send her away, down to mantle, since Dr. Polendina can’t keep an eye on her all the time we decided that you will have to do that. She already knows you Winter.

So, they want a free babysitter, huh? She didn’t let her thoughts show through her facade but she was a bit pissed.

Couldn’t they just put her in a locker or something.

Like there are some nice and clean storage rooms for the robot.

“Winter I know what you’re thinking, and I guarantee you, I also wanted to just put her into a storage room, but Dr. Polendina was quite adamant that this isn’t an option since he views her as a living being with emotions and uh things.”

At least they thought alike, it was behind Winters understanding why the Dr. was so adamant about his choice. But she had to put up with it.

“Understood General Ironwood, what are the further arrangements for the Mission.”

There was nothing she could do against this mission, and she surely wouldn’t disappoint her general.

Ironwood looked at her with a pleased smile, he could always count on her.

He knew her since her academy days and was quite proud of how far she had come, she was his right hand. His chest was filled with proud, he almost had to shed a little tear.

“I am glad to hear that you will do this mission Winter, our other options are, uh, uhm.. well let’s say you are the best choice!”

She didn’t even want to know what that was supposed to mean.

“Anyway, we arranged an apartment for the two of you in the nicer part of Mantle, Penny will have to go up here to Atlas once per week for a full body scan and examination.”

I hope this apartment has a working coffee machine, Winter would need the coffee.

“Also”, Ironwood walked hesitantly to his desk and took a box out of one of his drawers and put it on his desk.

“There is also the matter of disguise, we don’t think anyone in Mantle will recognize Penny, but, you on the other hand Winter, you just stand out Winter.”

Ironwood just realized what he said and hat to scratch his nose, “not because of your stature, not that you have a plump stature, uh”, he groaned, “I mean your hair and eyes give you away Winter.”

She raised an eyebrow at the general, her stature, well it would have been more surprisingly if he didn’t check her out once in a while. But she understood his point.

“So what hair color would you like, I ordered some so that you could pick one, we got brilliant brown, blissful black, cheeky chestnut, riding red and uh gracious golden. What’s just up with those names?”

Well it was quite cute that the general had made an effort to order all of those hair colors but he really didn’t have to. She would just stay indoors all the time, no need to go outside.

But she wouldn’t want to make the general sad, he kind of looked like a puppy that awaited his praise.

“Thank you a lot general, I really appreciate it”, she could see how his eyes lit up.

“So which one would you like Winter, chestnut would suit you, uuuh but red would also look absolutely fabulous.”

She hasn’t seen her general this passionate in quite a while, he should really open a hair salon in his free time, it seems like as if it would make him really happy.

“Black would be quite alright sir.” Winter always admired the dark color, since it was so opposed to her white upbringing.

There was this one time when she dyed her hair black in her younger days, her dad was furious, and she had to stay indoors until her white hair grew back, but strangely enough the eyebrows stayed black.

“Oh it will look absolutely stunning, it will give your eyes a nice contrast.”

He pressed the package of black hair dye in her hand.

No one would ever suspect a Schnee with black hair, it was the perfect disguise.

“Alright sir, anything else.”

Let’s just get this over with.

“Dr. Polendina would like to have a word with you in regards of Penny.”

So couldn’t he just give her the manual, or show her where the on and off button is.

“Let’s go Winter, Dr. Polendina is waiting for us, we want you both down in mantle asap.”

He walked past her and she immediately followed him out of his office through the halls of atlas academy.

A private airship was already waiting for them.

“Sir for how long will this mission take part.”

She sat on the other side of the ship, waiting for his response.

“We don’t know, we assume for at least a month, but since we don’t have enough information it’s for an unknown amount of time, but don’t worry Winter, I know you will do just fine.”

He tried to give her an assuring smile but it wasn’t quite working.

The military base was approaching quite fast. Penny’s home, it was a weird thought, born and raised in there it looked like a prison, like Schneemanor, a shudder went down Winters back. The manor was something she didn’t like to think about.

She found her home in the military, right next to the general. There was no other place for her to be, not that she would want to leave, it was just a fact. She had no other place she could go to.

The Airship was landing in front of the military base and Winter and Ironwood walked outside.

On each side lower ranking military personal that greeted them.

The white halls inside the base were clean and spotless, just how it should be, neat and tidy.

It was up to Winters standards.

They turned right and walked through the last security door that led them to Dr. Polendinas Lab in the military base.

A man with grey hair in a walking chair came in their direction.

“James it’s a pleasure to see you again!” A big smile was upon the old man’s face. “It’s nice to see you too, Pietro.” They gave each other a firm handshake.

“And you are Specialist Winter Schnee, It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

Winter’s face was stoic, and she was back in her business mode with the matching façade.

“Likewise, Dr. Polendina.”

She also shook the hand of the old Dr.

“Oh that one is a stoic one, but don’t worry I get the business demeanor, but please call me Pietro, formalities have never been one of my strong suit.”

A laughter escaped his mouth, he was indeed a bright and cheerful person, he didn’t let his inability to walk with his feet stop him.

“If you wish so, Pietro.” It was weird, saying his name like this. This was something Winter was not good at, people.

“So my dear, there are some things I would like to tell you in regards of my daughter.”

Winter looked up, his daughter, it was a weird concept to her, she knew he designed her, programmed her, but daughter didn’t this go a bit to far?

Also, how much detail did he put in her design. Winter’s thoughts started to wander, could she taste and smell? Winter knew she had touch sensors, so she could feel touch, but what else, what had she equipped under her skirt? Also depending how well she was equipped there she would shove Pietro in a different category of pervert.

I mean, if you look at it from a certain point of view, it was mildly disturbing, why did he design a young girl, why not an adult woman or man.

This fact gave Winter to think, she would of course never speak those thoughts out loud, but she would keep them in the back of her mind.

“so as a last thing, you have to be careful that she doesn’t hurt herself, she tends to be a bit reckless from time to time.” He looked at Winter, welp, she kinda missed all of it, but there couldn’t have been anything to significant.

“I hope you take good care of my daughter she is everything to me.”

This somehow hit Winter differently, he seems to really love the robot, Penny, it was weird to see a father express this much love for his daughter.

“Of course, Sir, I will take good care of her.”

And Winter meant that, she wouldn’t want to disappoint Ironwood or Dr. Polendina for the matter of fact.

“Then I will await you tomorrow morning here.”

They wished each other goodbye and Winter left with an uncertain feeling. She knew the mission wouldn’t be a problem but something still bothered her.

But well, she had to go to her apartment and pack her things and also dye her hair.

The fly to her apartment was spent in silence between her and the general.

It wasn’t an awkward silence not in the slightest, it was nice. They could enjoy each other’s company without saying something.

No forced small talk, no awkward conversation about the weather, it was perfectly to Winters liking.

“Penny, darling what are you doing?”

Dr. Polendina walked in the room of his daughter.

It was a simple white room with a bed and a desk, also with a shelf and a plush animal on top of it.

A white bunny, it was actually a present from Ironwood, he was quite surprised that the general had even gotten her anything at all.

In a corner of the room there was also a violine, it was something that was important to Pietro. He tried to give Penny things she could learn on her one, instead of just putting it in her programming.

Penny sat on the ground and had her scroll in her hand, reading one of many books the Dr had downloaded on her scroll. Of course, he picked the books Penny was allowed to read.

And most of them were things he found interesting, like programming, and engineering, also a book about knitting.

“I am reading the book about knitting, it is quite informative about knitting.”

Dr. Polendina looked at his daughter, sitting on the floor even thou she had a table and a desk just over there.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?”

She didn’t look up she was fixated on the knitting book.

“Yes, I am ready.” Her words seemed normal, but Pietro knew his daughter to well, something was bothering her quite a bit.

“Darling, I know you don’t want to be away from home but it will be fun I promise!”

Now she turned her head and looked at her father, her green eyes were of a clear color.

“Really?” She sounded a bit uncertain.

Pietro didn’t want her to leave, not that she wouldn’t be safe in Winters care, but he liked his daughter here, where he could be close if she needed something, but he also knew that sometimes he needs to let go.

“Yeah of course, you can explore Mantle with Winter and see many new things, Penny, I want that you experience new things and live a bit, make a friend in Winter, she is a nice young lady.”

Pietro meant what he said, he wanted nothing more as to see Penny live her life.

“Friends..” Penny had to think back to the Vytal Festival to Ruby, she missed her, she was her first friends, her only friend to be honest. It made her feel sad.

“Alright dad, I will try.”

“That’s my girl come and give your old man a hug!”

Penny stood up and walked to her dad, giving him a hug.

Winter’s apartment was like you would expect it, neat tidy, not to much furniture, but elegant and empty.

It didn’t feel like anyone was actually living there.

Winter sighed, tomorrow would be a long day.

Her clothes fell to the ground and she took a step into the shower.

The water was warmth, and she let herself sink on the ground. It was something that she often did when she was stressed, she would sit on the ground on her shower and let the hot water rain upon her.

It felt nice, she would sometimes turn the heat a tad up, just enough that it burned slightly but not hot enough to hurt her.

The heat helped her to calm down. She could finally relax for a moment.

It was her daily routine, work, eat, sleep and occasionally have a crisis in the shower.

It felt good, to vent, no one could see her tears in the shower, red puffy eyes? There must have come some shampoo in her eyes. She didn’t even know why she cried. She had everything she ever wanted.

The hair dye was enough to cover her entire hair, and with that she stepped outside of the shower into the wide empty space of her apartment, she was dripping on the floor. But who would care about it, after all, she was alone like always.


	2. Finding Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter and Penny make their way to Mantle.

**Finding A Dime**

**Chapter 1 - Finding Home**

* * *

Winter sighed, she looked down at her now filled suitcase, there wasn’t really much. Some spare clothes some books she always wanted to read but never got the time to.

She looked one last time in the mirror of her bathroom. Her hair were raven black, it made her skin even lighter, there was no trace of red in it, just white like snow.

It looked different. But in a good way, a really weird feeling that she couldn’t really place made itself remarkable in her chest. But she shrugged it off. There were more important things she had to focus on right now.

Like, not messing up the mission, and not forgetting her toothbrush.

She let her gaze wander around her apartment one last time, she didn’t forget anything, there were no pets not plants to water no spiders somewhere in a corner.

Nothing in here needed to be taken care of, even if she came back a year later it would be mostly the same. Cold and empty, still the same white walls and furniture, still no one that would wait for her to come home. Not that she even spends a lot of her time there. Most of the time she was at her job.

This was it, she took her suitcase and walked out of the door of her apartment.

Not turning back this time.

The ship already awaited her and there was nothing else to do now.

Firstly, she would head to the military base in Mantle where they most likely already awaited her. Penny would also be there, she knew her, or at least partly. Then both of them would take a car to their base or well the apartment, but that sounded lame, no?

She sat down in the airship and let her gaze wander outside, Schneemanor was always visible, it was truly disgusting how something so beautiful could hold so many bad memories. The day she left that prison was truly the best day of her life. Once out of the mansion she could finally breath again, or so she thought at least, being a Schnee would always burden her freedom. Expectations, standards, she had to hold up to. The pressure was there. She often thought of the ocean in those times, if it wouldn’t be less pressuring to be on the ground of it? A thought she never disclosed to anyone.

Just like her breaks in the shower, both of them were things that made her, her. But at the same time she didn’t like them. Sometimes she needed them, the hot water, and the thought of vanishing in the ocean. They were comforting to her, that there was always the possibility to escape if needed.

Not that she would ever have to run from anything, she was Winter Schnee, Atlas Specialist, cold, powerful, graceful, sometimes a bit hot headed. She was still working on that, in her youth she used to have quiet the explosive temper, but she quickly learned how to hide it, to let no one see it. To not feel it anymore. Emotions meant weakness to her, or they used to, her believe weakened over the years, growing and learning new things every day.

A sound got her back out of her thoughts, they landed.

With her suitcase in her left hand, she walked out of the airship right inside the military base, this time there was no one to greet her. Right, no general, just her, Winter.

White, white, white, empty, cold and suddenly it was bright. So bright, she turned around the last corner and saw her. The android, robot girl, Penny. She sat on a table swinging her legs forth and back. Her hair a reddish bronze tone. Freckles covered her cheeks and a pair of green eyes.

She stood out like a dandelion in a field of roses. She didn’t fir the image Atlas had for her, she was color full, bright and seemingly so full of life. Such a façade, she was a robot, covered in a coat, nothing more nothing less and yet, it didn’t really seem so.

Dr. Polendina was on his computer tipping some kind of code Winter didn’t really understand.

Winter walked closer, suddenly feeling Penny’s eyes on her.

“Good morning Dr. Polendina.” Winter greeted the old man.

Pietro turned around on his chair carrying his usual smile. “Ah Winter, what did I tell you, call me Pietro.” He came closer and shook her hand. “Uh yes, Pietro.” Winter was a bit awkward, humans were still not something she was good at, especially if they were so close. Penny still looked at her but said nothing. Could robots perhaps be shy? Pietro noticed Winters gaze in Penny’s direction and the slight hint of curiosity in her eyes.

“Well I believe you lady’s have see each other around.” Pietro turned around to look at his daughter, he was mighty proud of her, he just wished that she could stay with him, but he knew it was way too risky.

Now Penny heaved herself down from the table and walked over to Winter still fixating her with those green eyes.

In a blink of an eye she took Winter’s hand and shook it with a bit to much force.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Winter, I have heard things about you.”

To her surprise Penny’s hands didn’t feel cold or metallic, she could feel it through her gloves, they emitted heat, not much but enough that they didn’t feel cold, also her skin, it was soft what kind of material could it be made of, maybe some sort of silicon.

Also, Penny heard things about her? Curiosity let Winter raise an eyebrow, her hand slowly started to hurt, not that she would let it show.

“Likewise Penny, it’s nice to finally meet your acquaintance.” It wasn’t a lie, Winter had become quite curious about the robot girl, she had never seen her up close just from the distance, and all she heard about her were the gossip from her pears.

Winter finally took her hand back, the hand shake was longer than she anticipated.

“We can go when you’re ready”, said Winter.

She looked down in front of Penny was a suitcase, a greenish brown one, an odd color combination, it looked also old, a bit worn out, maybe it used to belong to Pietro.

Penny looked at her dad there was a hint of sadness in her eyes, “I will miss you dad”, she lunged forward and gave Pietro a hug. “Aww sweet pea I will miss you too”, the Dr took her into his arms returned the hug. It was almost touching, to see both of them clinging onto each other, not really wanting to let go, but Winter slowly got impatient.

It was just a goodbye, they would see each other again, why would they be so sad about it. Just a few weeks and Penny would be back here in the base, with those white walls and bright artificial light.

Something suddenly felt wrong, a feeling crouching up in Winters stomach.

But as soon as it came it was already gone.

“I will see you soon Penny”, Pietro let go and gave his daughter one last smile.

“Take care of you Penny! And you too Winter.”

Penny took her suitcase and walked over to Winter. “Don’t worry Dad, I am ready”, Penny smiled back at him reassuring him that she would be fine without him.

“Goodbye Pietro”, Winters words were short, and with those she made her way out of the door with Penny in tow.

Winter sat down in the airship and to her surprise Penny sat right next to her. Almost invading her sacred personal space. Did the robot girl know about personal space? If not Winter had to teach her.

The airship would take them down to Mantle and from there it would be a short foot walk until they were at their new apartment. General Ironwood gave her the address on a piece of paper, quite nostalgic to write notes on paper, it reminded her of her academy days where her classmates would pass each other notes during lessons, careful to not let her see them, but she noticed them anyway.

She didn’t care about them, stupid notes, stupid classmates.

Unknown to her she balled her hands to fists, she didn’t care, she didn’t feel anything about it, no, no, she did not.

“Winter?”, Penny who sat next to her noticed Winters behavior, the sudden tension the balled fists.

If there was something that made Winter uncomfortable Penny would surely find out what!

But already her voice was enough to snap Winter out of it. Her composure went back to normal and her hands were back into position. She turned her head, “Yes Penny?”, did she notice?

“I saw that you showed signs of distress and wanted to ask what it caused.” Green eyes met ice, Winter looked at her with a neutral expression. What was she supposed to answer? She wasn’t distressed she was feeling quite normal, there was nothing wrong with her. “I wasn’t distressed Penny, I was just in thoughts about the address the general gave me, us.” She showed Penny the small note.

“Uuh”, Penny didn’t know what she should say now, so she let out an acknowledging sound.

The rest of the short ride was spent in silence. This time it was almost a bit unpleasant.

Mantle and Atlas were like night and day. The streets of Mantle were at some parts quite rundown, and yet there were corners that looked more alive than any street in Atlas.

This place was full of colors, brown, grey, green, not a wide color palette but it’s still more than white. She could feel the stare of many eyes upon the airship. Atlas personnel wasn’t quite that popular anymore down here.

They went out quickly when the airship landed and vanished into the crowd.

It must just be a bit farther. They have been walking for some minutes now, through the cold streets of Mantle. Passing many shops, and all kinds of different people.

“Winter? How far is it?”, Penny started to wonder, she didn’t knew where they exactly needed to go, no one seemed to think it might be a good idea to explain the way to her.

“We should arrive in less than 3 minutes.” Winters respond came immediately, it should just be around this corner.

And there was a building, the outer walls a faded red the rooftop brown, there seemed to be 3 floors on every floor seemed to be 2 apartments. “Penny we are here”, the robo girl looked at Winter holding her suitcase in both hands. She wanted to say something but Winter already went through the front door.

Weird, in the base everyone would always make sure that she was still there, looking after her until she passed the door. But nonetheless she quickly followed after Winter.

There was no elevator, there seemed to be an elevator shaft but apparently the elevator was just missing.

So they took the stairs, of course it was for neither of them a problem, the cracks in the steps weren’t to Winters liking thou.

They stood in front of the door, it was locked with a keycode. Turning the note around she found it. She was just about to type it in when she heard the door behind them shacking a bit. There was someone on the other side watching them through the peephole. Winter certainly didn’t like it. She tipped the code carefully to not give it price, and walked into the apartment and closed the door behind Penny.

So, there they were, Winter took a look around.

The walls were made of bricks which had a dark rose tone, the floor made of orange and white big tiles. Kitchen and living room seemed to be connected, a bathroom a bedroom.

And in the living room the most outlandish piece of furniture Winter had ever seen, a yellow leather couch, it actually looked even quite clean.

It gave the whole apartment quite a cheeky personality. Personality, Winter was quite surprised about her own thoughts, never had she thought about her own apartment in that way or any other for that matter.

Penny stood next to her, sticking close to Winter, she looked around with big eyes, it was the first time for her to see such an environment, and Winter could tell that the girl, robot girl, wanted to look around and explore the small area.

“Let us unpack our things and settle in Penny”, Winter walked into the bedroom, two beds, Winter immediately took the one in the corner and started to unpack her belongings.

Penny watched her and walked to the other one and also started to unpack her things. She was really proud of herself, she packed her suitcase on her own! Of course her dad had offered her to help, but she declined, she could do that herself without any problems.

She took out her knitting book, her violine and a striped sock. The violine and the book have found their place but the sock on the other hand, she put it under her new pillow. It seemed like a god spot to put it.

Penny turned around and took a look at Winter. She had dyed her hair a marvelous black, it suited her good, she was a bit taller as Penny, and her figure also had differences from Penny’s own. It was really interesting how no one was the same.

The bed was soft, there was not much resistance from the mattress, a thought came to Penny.

Winter unpacked the last of her things when she was interrupted by a weird squeaking sound, she turned around and saw Penny bouncing on the bed, she seemed to enjoy herself quite a lot.

What a weird view, it seemed to make a lot of fun.

“Penny please stay focused”, why did those words come out of her mouth. Penny looked at her surprised but she lowered her gaze and sat down. The people around her often told her to not do something, it wasn’t a problem, just sit still.

A slight feeling of guilt zapped through Winter. It was a passive position, she knew it all to well. Memories came back and a shudder ran down her spine.

Also, on what exactly should she stay focused? They just had to be here, what they were doing was up to them, right. It was alright.

“I meant to say, don’t break the mattress”, Winter turned back around, almost a bit embarrassed. At those words Penny’s eyes flew upward, she could continue? She was unsure, but it seemed most likely. Instead of continuing, she would just swing her legs back and forth. Penny spotted some books that Winter brought with her, they immediately piqued her interest.

Her dad never gave her anything else than textbooks. He was worried that the wrong books would give Penny wrong ideas, he also mentioned this to Winter so there would no chance to read them.

Winter noticed Penny’s longing gaze for her books, “Penny?”, Winter asked to get Penny’s attention. “Yes?”, her voice was clear and yet you could hear a bit reservation in it. “Would you perhaps like to read on of my books, I packed a few.”

Could that be it? Was this Penny’s chance to finally read something else besides textbooks.

But didn’t her dad tell Winter that she wasn’t allowed to read them? Or did he maybe allow it? Of course, Winter wouldn’t offer it to her if her dad told her.

“It would be a pleasure.” Penny answered after a short while smiling.

Winter had to give a tiny smirk, she looked through her books and settled on one, the title seemed fine enough.

‘Days of Daisy’ it seemed to be a lighthearted book and a good fit for Penny.

She gave Penny the book and the girl lit up and gave Winter a huge smile. “Thank you Winter.” Penny looked at the book as if it were her biggest treasure in this moment.

Winter’s chest felt warm, it was adorable to see Penny so happy over a book.

So happy and full of life, something tore at Winter, but she stepped out of the room, burying the heavy feeling inside her heart.


	3. Settling in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter and Penny slowly start to settle in in their new home.

**Finding A Dime**

**Chapter 2 - Settling in**

* * *

Winter slowly opened her eyes, the first rays of sunshine came through the window illuminating the bedroom.

She didn’t want to get up, she still had some time to just lay still. Getting out of bed shouldn’t be this hard after doing it everyday but yet it just seemed to get harder every time. Was there even a point of getting out of bed? At the end of the day she would be back here. But she had to get up, she had a job to do. She straightened herself up and finally got out of the bed. The room temperature was a bit chill but it didn’t bother Winter, she had way worse in the Atleasian tundra.

She wasn’t fully awake yet when the smell of something burnt hit her. It came out of the living room.

Without getting properly dressed first she stumbled into the living room. And then her senses started kicking, she wasn’t in her apartment anymore, she was down in Mantle with Penny in this run-down apartment. It was truly weird seeing someone else in the morning, usually it was just her.

Her eyes finally set on Penny. The robot stood in front of the stove.

“Penny, what are you doing?”, asked Winter. Penny looked over her shoulder giving her a bright smile. “Oh, good morning Winter, sit down, I made you breakfast.”

Winter’s eyebrows rose up, no one in the past few years had ever made her breakfast. Thou there was this one time the General forced her to eat an apple in the morning because she didn’t look well.

Winter felt flattered that the robot girl had made her breakfast but she didn’t eat in the morning, it was not that she wasn’t hungry, but she made the decision to not eat in the morning, this decision was something no one could ever take from her. It was her thing that she had fully under control, what else had she even control over in her life.

Her steps led her to the table, she almost felt a bit guilty, no, she didn’t need to feel guilty.

“Penny, I..”, she was interrupted by Penny turning around with a plate in her hand. “Please sit down Winter.”

“Thank you Penny, but I usually don’t eat in the morning.”, Penny stopped in her movement, she tilted her head to the side and looked confused at Winter.

No sign of anger or anything, Winter was a bit relieved she was almost worried to hurt her feelings.

“But humans are hungry in the morning, why do you not want to eat?”, Oh well, what should she say.

Winter sat down, looking up at Penny, “I just don’t eat in the morning Penny”, she repeated what she had said earlier. Penny looked a bit conflicted. Winter sighed, “but I can try your cooking, but just a bit”, it didn’t really count as eating when she would just try it to make the robot happy, right?

Penny’s face lit up, and Winter thought for a second to see the sun, what, where did that came from?

Shacking the thought out of her mind just as fast as it came.

“I hope it is to your liking Winter, I always cook for my dad and he always has the biggest smile on his face while eating.” She sat down the plate in front of Winter.

Winter stared at it.

“Penny, your dad lied to you.” The food on her plate was pitch black, burnt to crisps. Poor Dr. Polendina. He endured it to see his daughter smile.

“What?”, Penny uttered confused.

“Penny, this food is burnt to crisps no one would eat it willingly.”

There was silence. She saw how Penny’s face slowly went from confused to sad. Something that Winter witnessed the first time, and she didn’t like it.

And her following words surprised her, “I can show you how to cook if you want?”, A simple gesture Winter could cook for herself she used to cook regular for herself when she moved out, but after a time she settled for the comfortable take out food.

“That would be most wonderful”, and there the sadness was gone, and Winter already felt better.

A small smile sneaked on Winter’s face, maybe it wasn’t too bad to not wake up in a totally empty apartment.

“We need to go shopping first since we are in need of new ingredients”, Penny’s finger lay on her bottom lip as she looked thoughtful at the empty fridge.

“Seems like it, let me get ready and we can go”, Winter turned around to the bedroom, she was still in her pajama, some black shorts and a normal shirt. She changed in one of her casual outfits, that actually was just the same expect her coat, she now had a dark blue jacket on without any prints on it.

She turned around looking in the mirror, her reflection looked back, was it mocking her? Her black hair seemed so natural on her, but she still looked like Winter Schnee, and somehow she didn’t like it, not one bit. Why was it bothering her? She grabbed her scroll and left it at that.

“Lets go”, her voice was somewhat cold and tense but Penny just smiled and followed Winter out the door, she still looked the same as yesterday, did she even change? Well as long as her clothes didn’t get dirty, she had no need to change since she didn’t, uh, produce any body liquids.

There was a small store nearby, they had passed it yesterday, in regards they should have gone shopping yesterday, than they wouldn’t need to go now, Winter was annoyed with herself that she didn’t think of it.

Winter was thinking what food would be easy enough to cook, and easy enough for Penny to learn, maybe some pancakes? Winter liked pancakes, soft, fluffy, delicious what was there not to like.

“So Penny, I was thinking that..”, Winter turned around, no Penny. She stopped immediately, where was Penny? She had just been next to her like 3 seconds ago. This just couldn’t be true. It was just their second day and Penny was gone. Ugh, Winter made her way back, she couldn’t have come far? Right? Right?!

Winter senses were on high alert now, scanning the area for everything that was ginger. She would find Penny, it was just a matter of time and nerves.

“Oh you are for sure a cute kitten”, that was Penny’s voice she was near, she must be around this corner in the alleyway. And there she was, on the ground petting a kitten. “Penny..” Winter wanted to start with a long rant about how she shouldn’t walk away but Penny was faster, “Winter look at this kitten can we keep it?”, yeah her day just got worse. The red tabby cat was rubbing itself against Penny’s leg purring while Penny pet the small kitten.

“Penny, the cat most likely already belongs to someone who lives here”, Winter tried to reason, the cat looked, well now that she took a closer look, it wasn’t actually that well fed and also quite unclean, also no collar.

But she couldn’t also take care of a kitten, it was just too much work. No, they would leave the kitten here. That’s her final verdict of the situation.

“Come Penny”, Penny looked at her with big eyes, pouting.

Suddenly Penny felt a warmth around her hand, it was Winter’s hand that took hers, “Also new rule, if we go outside you are to not let go of my hand until we enter a building.”

It sounded like a command, it was most likely due to it being one, but Penny nodded regardless, she was told to listen to Winter and she would do so to her best capabilities, more or less.

Penny’s hand laid warm in Winter’s as they made her way to the shop. Winter hadn’t hold hands with anyone this long before, well technically it wasn’t even hand holding, she was just making sure that Penny didn’t wander off again, she could have gotten into trouble, could have gotten mugged or assaulted.

Winter’s worry just grew stronger the longer she thought about all the possible outcomes, unknown to her she gripped Penny’s hand a bit stronger. She was just doing her job.

For Penny it was also a new experience, it was weird to feel the warmth of another being for so long, she kind of liked it. Of course, she had hold her dad’s hand, but his was rough, big, manly, Winter’s on the other hand, seemed softer more delicate, she still had to think of the kitten it was really fluffy and also warm. She really hoped that Winter was right and it had an owner. Still, she was somewhat feeling unsure about it.

They finally arrived at the shop, it was quite small just with some aisles, the cashier didn’t even look at them as they entered, he was reading a newspaper.

Penny suddenly felt the pressure around her hand gone, Winter let her hand go and grabbed a basket already making her way through the aisles.

The ginger haired looked around and a certain corner with books and magazines was catching her eye. Penny’s eyes widened at the covers of those magazines, ‘easyrider’, stood on the front of it. She was really curious, “Winter can I buy this magazine?”, Winter didn’t look in her direction she was busy looking for the ingredients they needed for pancakes. “Yeah sure..”, Winter didn’t even glance at it, couldn’t be anything bad right?

Happily Penny walked up to the counter and laid the magazine down.

“Hello there, I would like to purchase this magazine”, she smiled brightly as the cashier took down his newspaper and gave her a strange look.

“Yeah, whatever”, he grabbed the magazine and stopped for a second, looking at the cover, huh, young girls like her aren’t usually the target audience for that kind of magazines. Just now he glanced over to Winter, huh, well the ginger seemed to be into this stuff, no shame in that. He rung her up and Penny paid with her scroll. The cashier packed it in a brown paper bag and handed it over to Penny. Shame, she looked so cute and innocent, he would have asked her out, but considering the black haired lady and the magazine he stood no chance, he sighed.

Winter had the shopping bag in her left hand and in her right Penny’s

She had noticed the look the cashier gave Penny, she didn’t like this guy he was also quite older. She officially declared him in her mind as a creep.

But well, Penny was, well, in a general opinion of the mass, pretty, bright ginger hair, glowing green eyes, and really adorable freckles she also was neither too big or too small.

She considered herself as good looking, but pretty was something else, she had such light skin and was also quite big, she also came of as quite intimidating, or so was she told. She couldn’t deny that.

They passed the alleyway the small kitten was nowhere to be seen anymore, Winter really hoped that it was alright, maybe they should have taken it after all. No, she needed to stay focused and it was already quite difficult as of now for reasons she really didn’t understand.

When they entered the apartment building Winter let once again go of Penny’s hand. The door on the opposite of theirs, Winter could hear it again, someone was looking again through the peephole. Who was watching them? It made Winter feel quite uneasy she would have to take care of it if it revealed itself as a threat.

Winter put down the grocery bag and sat down on the couch, no need to cook already, it wasn’t even lunch time yet. Penny on the other hand went to their bedroom and put the magazine into her closet but taking out the book Winter gave her, she had still half of the book to read, it was nothing like she has ever read, so she was quite excited to read further.

It was about a young woman called Daisy and her goal to find her place in her world.

There was also her friend Rose, that helped Daisy through her hardships, it was interesting how much touch based this help was, Daisy seemed to be quite reluctant to Rose’s hugs but she never denied them or pushed her away, weird, so she did like them? It was really interesting to Penny how those relationships worked.

She took the book and sat down in the other corner of the couch, putting her legs up and tucking them in silently reading.

On the other side of the couch Winter had her legs stretched out her head leaned back and her eyes closed, it was quite relaxing, just closing her eyes letting her view go black, relaxing in the nothingness. But in her field of blackness there was a glance of bronze that gave this darkness some color. Winter’s mind was slowly drifting from awake to asleep.

Penny set her book aside, watching Winter from the other side of the couch. She had fallen asleep, and was slightly snoring, her chest raises and falls in a way slower manor as when she was awake.

Sleep was something Penny didn’t require, of course she could enter a rest mode, there was just no need for it, she never got tired but she could dream. Dreaming was something really bizarre, she saw weird things, forms, events of her days, events that never happened.

Maybe she could also rest and dream for a bit until Winter would wake up, it didn’t sound bad, and the couch seemed like the right place to do so.

She was just about to enter rest mode when she saw Winter shivering, it was a bit fresh in the apartment. The window in the bedroom was open. Penny got up from the couch and walked into the bedroom closing the window silently, from somewhere still came cold air but all of the windows were closed, the heating also seemed to be malfunctioning, even thou yesterday it seemed to work just fine. Her eyes fell on one of the blankets, she took it and walked back into the living room over to Winter. Carefully she laid the blanket over Winter and tucked her a bit in, she didn’t want Winter to catch a cold.

She looked at the Schnee woman, she was still shivering under the blanket. Was she still cold? The temperature was under the comfortable living room conditions and the blanket wasn’t that thick.

Still, it looked really comfortable to rest but maybe she could also get under the blanket, next to Winter, to keep her warm.

Would she mind? Penny could radiate a certain amount of heat if she wished to do so. If she did that Winter wouldn’t be cold anymore.

Her decision was made, she slowly lifted up the blanker and snuck under it next to Winter’s right side.

Laying her head next to Winter’s shoulder, she could feel the heat Winter’s body was emitting.

And with that she closed her eyes and dreamed of a warm hand holding gently onto hers.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there :)
> 
> I am glad you found your way here.
> 
> I can't guarantee to keep this work up, but as of now, I enjoy writing it.
> 
> If someone wants to point out mistakes or wants to see a certain scene I am open to it. :)
> 
> Cheers


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